Reviewing: Suicide Squad (2016)

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

I really wanted to like Suicide Squad.

I really, really did.

It was a film that myself, fellow comic book fans and the general public were looking forward to, a movie that would mark a change in direction for Warner Brothers’s DC Comics film output, one that had gone through some bumps in the past few years (Superman-centered Man of Steel divided audiences, while its sequel Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was pretty much trashed) but looked to finally set it right with this film. The trailers promised a film that was fun, funny, and riveting. A film focused on a team of supervillains forced to do some good? An A-list cast? The Joker?!! Things seemed to be looking up for Warner Bros. That is, until the film released.

While no doubt a box office smash, Suicide Squad squandered the potential it promised, in large part because of constant reshoots, studio interference, and a script that was written in only 6 weeks to make the film’s coveted August release date. As it turns out, Warners had gotten flak over B vs. S being too dark and grim, and had the movie be re-edited by the company that had produced the engaging trailers. This explains why the film fails to present a coherent story (or an engaging one), why we should care about the characters (the first 20 minutes of the film are used to provide meaningless background information), or wrap things up on a satisfying note. It’s a shame really; with more time paid to the script and a much more fleshed out story, we really could have had something here. But business is business (supposedly what they’d say in parts of the industry), and it can be cruel, especially to audiences.